Jul 1, 2013

Attitudes

By Sue Hulen

Lately, I’ve had to deal with more people than I usually do. Many of them all had conflicting attitudes and I found that pretty interesting. Only a few of these people knew one another. It’s amazing how one person’s attitude can rub off on others. Some have good attitudes and some are bad. Some are positive and some quite the opposite.

People who have an up beat attitude just naturally attract others. One lady I spoke with last week has a wonderful attitude about her art work. At times she may question her ability as a painter and maybe the way her projects are coming along, but she has never lost her love for painting or the wonder of it all. She always seems to come up with something creative and interesting. Such a lovely person.

Another lady was always putting her painting down and claiming her inability as a painter to do anything that anyone else would like or even approve of. First of all, I’m not sure why she gave so much credence to what others thought and secondly she will never be any more than she thinks she is. As a man thinketh…..! She has a self-fulfilling prophecy as far as her work and being able to paint anything of worth. Sad, really.

One lady was so busy putting down and talking badly about all the other artists that I’d be surprised if she ever accomplished anything else. Sometimes we need to see our own flaws and deal with them before we start pointing out the flaws of others.

This type of person is my least favorite. You know the ones. The ones who get out on the internet in social networking sites, and others, and toots their own horn about their work. They brag about their projects, having their projects in magazines, blasting others and having others who give her glowing comments in such sites. Nothing like promoting yourself almost on a daily basis. If her work was truly worth all of the time she invests in bragging about it I would give her kudos. Like I said, I don’t like giving fake compliments so I won’t comment on such posts. A hypocrite I am not.

Some were needy in that they wanted compliments in order to feel viable as an artist. Constantly in search of someone to say “Great job,” “Nice work,” or “You are so talented.” People like that seem to have been neglected somewhere along the way. I am not one to give out fake compliments so it’s hard to converse with such people. I don’t dislike them, I just find them too needy all the time. They’re exhausting.

Others had an attitude of “If I’m miserable I will make sure you are miserable, too.” Those are the ones I try to avoid at all costs. WOW! They can bring me down in a heartbeat. I’m so sorry they’re so miserable, but I didn’t cause their misery. They are so hard to deal with because of their negativity and baggage.
None of us see ourselves as others see us. We all have our flaws and our shadows. I guess we really need to not be so judgmental and start being more compassionate. We all have our own story to tell and some are in much need of compassion rather than judgment.

We’re all capable of change no matter what our age, so maybe we can all do a bit of tweaking in our own attitudes and try to see ourselves as others see us. If any of you can figure out how to do that please let me know, because I still haven’t been able to. It’s tough when you’re already so darned perfect! : )